Skirt and waist retainer.



H. GILES.

SKIRT AND WAIST RETAINER.

APPLICATION FILED 110v.22. 1911.

1,048,405, Patented De0.24,1912.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARVEY GILES, OF SOUTH BOUNDBROOK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 KOPS 1330s., 01 NEW YORK, N. Y.

SKIRT AND WAIST RETAINER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 22, 1911. Serial No. 661,767.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARVEY GILES, a citizen of the United States and a resident of South Boundbrook, in the county of Somerset and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Skirt and \Vaist Re tainer, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a retainer adapted to be removably fastened to the front steel of a corset, and an object of my invention is to provide a device of the above-identified character, which may be used to hold a skirt in position and to afford means for holding the shirt waist tape or band in place close to the band of the skirt, to afford a neat, smooth connection at the waist.

A further object of my invention is to provide a clasp or retainer adapted to fit different width corset steels.

A further object is to provide a clasp or retainer, which will lie flat against the face of the steel with very little projection, and which will leave the back of the steel smooth at this place.

I attain the above-outlined objects by constructing a clasp or retainer in the shape of a wire bent into a U, the free ends of which are inturned to form sharpened points to engage the covering of the steel, slidably mounted upon which U, is disposed a keeper having a hook end to engage the waist tape.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of my invention in position at the front of the waist of the wearer; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of my improved retainer with the keeperin the extreme open position; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but with the keeper in a half closed position; Fig. 4 is a similar view to Figs. 2 and 3, but showing the keeper in its fully closed position; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the keeper shown in Fig. 4:, and on the line 5-5 of said figure; and Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

In Fig. 1, I have shown, for the purpose of illustrating the application of my improved retainer, a corset A having a front steel B, to which front steel is adapted to be fastened the clasp O, particularly forming the subject-matter of this invention, part of which clasp is adapted to engage over the front of the waist band D of a skirt E, to prevent the latter from riding up in front. A hook extending from said clasp, engages the shirt waist tape or band F, to hold the same in position at the waist, a short distance above the band I) of the skirt.

Described more in detail, the retainer consists of a U-shaped member 7, preferably of resilient wire, each leg of the U having a plurality of outwardly-bent portions 8, to provide transvcrsely-disposed portions affording means for holding the keeper hereinafter described. The upper free end of each leg of the U is bent outwardly, forming a shoulder in alinement with the corresponding shoulder of the other leg, as shown at 9, and is then bent back upon itself in a plane at right angles to the plane of the U-shaped member and to the length of said member, forming a sharpened clamping end -10, which clamping end is in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the U-member 7 the legs of said member being normally sprung apart, as shown in Fig. 2. By reason of the aforesaid bent formation of the ends of the member 7, the points 10 may effectively embrace a corset steel of the largest size and yet the device may be made of uniformly small and neat design.

It will be understood that the device is attached to some immovable article of clothing, and is shown here to be attached to the front steel of a corset, the pointed ends 10 preferably engaging the lining of the steel, so as to leave the rear portion of the steel smooth. The oppositely-disposed points or ends 10 are drawn toward each other, by means of a keeper 11, slidably mounted upon the legs of the member 7, said keeper comprising a flat, elongated plate 12, the upper end of which plate is reduced and bent back upon itself to form a hook 13, which hook is adapted to hold the shirt waist string F, but, of course, may be used to hold the shirt waist itself or any other similar article of apparel. The lower portion of the plate 12 has oppositely-disposed front portions 14, folded about the legs of the member 7, to house the same. Each edge 15 of the portion 14 has a recess 16 therein, into which recess projects one of the outturned portions or corrugations S, to hold said Patented Dec. 24,1912.

keeper in adjusted position on the member 7. The out-turned portions or ends 9 of the U-member constitute a means to limit the upward movement of the keeper 11, and at the lower end of the keeper is a tongue 12 extending at an angle from the plate 12 outwardly between the legs of the member 7 which constitutes a stop limiting the downward slidable movement of the keeper.

It will be noted that as the keeper is raised from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the ends 10 are drawn closer and closer together, to fit the different sized corset steels. It will also be noted that the plate 12 and the member 7 are substantially in the same plane, so that the member 7 will lie flat against the corset steel, and forms, in. effect, a spring plate, to clamp and hold the front port-ion of the belt of the skirt flat against the cor set steel, and forms a flat, neat fastening means, to hold the skirt belt and waist string in their proper position, without presenting a bulky appearance at this point. function of the member 7 to hold the skirt belt is augmented by the fact of the plate 12 extending at its upper part above or beyond the offset plane of the points 10 when the device is in normal operative position.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A skirt and waist retainer comprising a substantially U-shaped member having alined outturned portions and the free ends of the member being bent outwardly forming a pair of alined shoulders and thence inturned toward each other and offset from the plane of the member, and a keeper comprising an elongated plate disposed between This the legs of the U-shaped member, having front portions integral with said plate Wrapped about the legs of said U to house the same, said front portions having recesses therein adapted to receive the aforesaid outturned portions of said U to retain said keeper in place on said U-shaped member, said front portions being adapted to engage said alined shoulders, the upper end of said plate being outturned to form a hook adapted to engage a waist string, the portion of said U-shaped member holding said keeper constituting means for retaining the waist band of a skirt in position below the same.

2. The herein described retainer comprising a substantially U-shaped member adapted to clamp and hold a skirt belt, the ends of the legs of which member are bent outwardly from each other and thence laterally in a plane transverse to the plane of the U-member and thence inwardly toward each other in said transverse plane, said ends forming means to embrace a support, and a keeper slidable along the said legs and limited in one direction by said outturned end portions, said keeper including a plate adapted to extend above and beyond the transverse plane aforesaid constituting a brace upon the opposite portion of the retainer, whereby the aforesaid hold upon the skirt belt is increased.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARVEY GILES.

Witnesses:

LEONARD J. BECK, ELIZABETH L. PEEBLES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

